Cleaning apparatus and method

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for cleaning glass used in cars or cameras are disclosed. Said cleaning apparatus comprises glass, multiple electrodes placed in series on top of said glass, a dielectric layer stacked on top of said electrodes, and a hydrophobic layer stacked on top of said dielectric layer and on whose surface a droplet forms. Here, said droplet moves towards the outer edge of said glass by application of differing direct current voltages to several of said electrodes.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A cleaning apparatus comprising:
 a substrate; 
 at least one electrode placed on top of the substrate, wherein the at least one electrode comprises a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode and the second electrode each comprise first sub-electrodes and second sub-electrodes, respectively, and wherein the first sub-electrodes and the second sub-electrodes each have a comb pattern and are placed in a crisscross pattern, with all of the sub-electrodes physically separated from one another; 
 a voltage generator that applies a first alternating voltage to the electrodes; and 
 a switch that switches on/off the applied first alternating voltage, 
 wherein the first alternating voltage and a second alternating voltage lower than the first alternating voltage are generated in a single period by the switch, both a conductive droplet and a non-conductive droplet on a surface of the cleaning apparatus start oscillating when the first alternating voltage and the second alternating voltage are simultaneously applied to the electrodes, and the conductive droplet and the non-conductive droplet are removed by the oscillation. 
 
     
     
       2. The cleaning apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising;
 a dielectric layer stacked on the at least one electrode; and 
 a hydrophobic layer stacked on the dielectric layer, 
 wherein the dielectric layer contains more than one type of substance selected from a group consisting of parylene C, teflon, and metal oxides, and 
 wherein the hydrophobic layer consists of a substance with low hydrophilicity and has the droplets formed on its surface. 
 
     
     
       3. The cleaning apparatus of  claim 2 ,
 wherein the at least one electrode are divided into a plurality of high voltage electrodes and a plurality of ground voltage electrodes, the high voltage electrodes and the ground voltage electrodes are placed alternately in series and physically separated on the substrate, wherein the high voltage electrodes and ground voltage electrodes each have a comb structure and are placed in an interlocking pattern without coming into contact with one another. 
 
     
     
       4. The cleaning apparatus of  claim 3 ,
 wherein an angle of contact between the non-conductive droplet and conductive droplet and the surface of the hydrophobic layer changes, reducing their adhesion, and the droplets move towards an outer edge of the hydrophobic layer by slope of the hydrophobic layer.